Lauren's Postcards from Paris: Negligence

Yet again, in light of travels, SCHOOL WORK, social engagements, the weather and illness, I have been negligent in my attendence to the blog. My apologies. For some reason, I just have not been in the mood to sit at the computer and write about the happenings of my very exciting life. This time, I will male the weather the scapegoat, and that the early arrival in spring in Paris has made it inconceivable to be wasting time indoors when not obliged to do so rather than go for walks and enjoy the sunshine and mild temperatures. I already know what I've been up to, but you, loyal readers, have been left in the dark. I will try over the next few days to bring you up to speed in a series of installments.

I can't believe that the last post was Chamonix, which as we all know, was totally terrific. I actually followed through on my good intentions and did some readings on the long train ride home that Sunday. Good thing too since I had forgotten it was Etienne's birthday and the rest of the evening was consumed by roomie bonding over takeout sushi and watching Inception. The quiet night was just what I needed.

The start of the school week always motivates me to be productive, and I was up early with work. Mondays, though busy, have become a favorite of mine since my two best classes, Sport & Politics, and Political Changes in Russia, make the day fly by. I carried that through the early evening by running some errands and picking up groceries on the way home, before I prepared a pie for Lauren Bailey's birthday later that night. Since Chamonix, I have been all over the salad making, and tonight was no exception. Lauren lives just outside the periphery on the line one with a host family, and I got a glimpse of what a family apartment can be like: spacious and classy. This vibe was also added to by the roses of the table (with a table cloth!), candles and chilled champagne. I there were only a few familiar faces, but I had some nice chats with some Montreal natives, and other Sciences Pos. My pie (apple-plum crumble) was also a huge hit, in addition to a dangerously rich chocolate cake. It was Lauren's 21st, and I know being American she was hoping for a bit more of a rager/going out after predrinks, but a Monday is hard to work with. So no rager since I was the only one who was committed to going out, but secretly I was relieved. In the end I stayed late and helped Lauren clean up and we hung out just the two of us for the first time which was kindof cool.

Tuesday, like last semester, has come to represent the love hate day of the week. Hate because I can't stand my French class (yet again, bad luck!), and love because then its just ballroom in the afternoon. This European history class has no narrative, and I really have no idea what point the lecturer is trying to make. Add in a class that is way too hot and two hours and its a recipe for distraction and frustration. Thank goodness we learned a new dance in ballroom - the quickstep, which I think is one of my new favorites. Afterwards, I finally got a chance to unpack from the trip, and took what I thought was a well earned night on the couch watching Sons of Anarchy (that show is too addictive... thank goodness I'm all up to date so it doesn't distract me anymore!). I am almost ashamed to admit that I stayed up until 4:30, that's how much I was captivated.

Not surprisingly then, I was a little sluggish on Wednesday, and actually fell asleep during one of the breathing exercises half way through yoga. Oops. Then it was off to the war: Me vs. the conference de methode of the dreaded Histoire de l'Europe. This time the victor was me! Or at least I like to think so - I spoke twice, two very weak comments, but I'll get what I cant ake anyways. I celebrated that night with Annie, as we made tartiflette and watched one of my favorite guilty pleasure films, Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights. I displayed my normal aptitude in handling kitchen utensils and almost dropped a carving night on Annie's foot. I swear I am not so clutsy on my own, really. For those of you who aren't aware, tartiflette is the equivalent of weight gain and the best thing ever. It is a layer bake of potatoes, cream, mushrooms, bacon with a whole wheel of melted roblochon on top. Sinful really. At least we balanced it with a nice garden salad on the side. A great night for the muskateers, and I even got treated to a drunk walk home phone call and kitchen chat with Etienne as I was going to bed. This might not sound fun to some, but it was really quite entertaining and in my mind a further sign of our bonding.

New vocab: tete de con - Context: he has the head of an idiot. Ha.

Shockingly, despite the series of late nights, I didn't even hit the snooze at 8am to go to 9am swimming. I have decided to start going to swim practice an hour earlier because Sciences Po gets the whole pool and so the lanes are much quieter, which is how I like it. Its worth losing the hour of sleep, and this practice proved it. I even did my first set all year and didnt suck too hard! I try and take my victories, however small, where I can get them. I headed home, stopping to pick up produce at the fruit et primeur and did a great clean of the apartment that left me very energized - this is going to become a weekly routine. Every up has its down though and I may or may not have dozed off a little in my seance de rattrapage of Russian politics. Basically for the next month, Russian politics is twice a week since the professor is away all of April. At least its becoming my favorite class so I view this as acceptable. He is just such an efficient lecturer, it is really a joy to take notes. The content is very well structured with background info, causes and consequences, and interesting stories. If only all classes were like this. It never feels rushed either, which is a big contrast to Vichy France. We're now 3/4 of a lecture behind in the syllabus, getting continually sidelined by questions about general history of WWII. Being that I already know the war pretty thoroughly, I find the delays irritating, and surprising that other students have had relatively little exposure to such a major formative world event. But I guess that's the history student in me. I was also particularly unimpressed with Vichy today because we got assigned a GROUP research paper. This sounds lika a terrible idea, I am far from enthused about trying to write a paper with 3 other students. The topic designation will be by first come first serve email response over the upcoming spring break. Perfect.

No point dwelling on that for now though. After class I headed to Basile with Ayumi to chat over a 3 euro pint. The only location a cheaper pint can be found, not even during happy hour, is at The Hideout in Chatelet. Which is in fact where I headed after dinner to grab another drink with Camila and Tom. Only 2,50. That is more like it Paris. You should really try that sometime. We had an amicable evening, despite being told to shhh by the table beside us (which I thought was unreasonable considering how loud the music was palying). I have met Camila numerous times now, but this was our first real chat, and she's super cool and quite the character. She's an American from Hawaii, David's ex and studying at the Sorbonne. Tiredness overcame our group so I headed home rather than go out with Annie and some other in Oberkampf. You just can't deny sleep sometimes.

Bourdelle sculpture from a series entilted "Siestes" aka Naps.

After another tough week, Friday is always awesome. The difficulty is however, to not waste my day being lazy and getting out of the house and doing some exploring, especially when its overcast. I struggled with the usual love of tv/scrubs and rallied early afternoon. i ended up spending auite a bit fo time researching cool and quirky things in and around Paris I'd still like to do. Not wanting to venture too far from home, I ventured out solo to a small museum a 20min walk from home, Musee Bourdelle. The former Paris house of Antoine Bourdelle has been transformed into the current museum, and houses some of his impressive, massive sculptures. I enjoyed the quiet and toured the studio, and even got let into his apartments, which were actually closed (thank you old man security guard). After dinner, I headed to Annie's for a little hosuewarming of sorts for drinks. Around one, Corina, her visiting friend Vlad and I went to Concorde Atlantiaue for some dancing. I had the jitters, and we boogied away on the dance floor for a couple of hours, until we couldn't take the heat anymore. The party wasn't the best, but Corina and I had fun. After a walk and velib ride home, I stayed up late visiting with Etienne and his buddies Max, Loic and Thibault, who were having a little party at ours. Being the responsible kid that I am I made it to bed at the respectable Friday night hour of 5am. Believe me, that was responsible!